Fruit-jar cover and fastener.



No. 796,549. PATENTED 'AUG. 8,1905.

J. P. YOUNG. FRUIT JAR oovm AND FASTENER.

APPLICATIONTILED MAY 23, 1904.

elbaapkffiugy, Fla/WWW,

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRUIT-JAR COVER AND FASTENER- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 8, 1905.

Application filed May 28, 1904. Serial No. 209,284.

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOSEPH P. YOUNG, a citizen of the United States, residing at Marshalltown, in the county of Marshall and State of Iowa, have invented a new and useful Fruit- Jar Cover and Fastener, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to improvements in fruit-jar covers and fasteners.

The object of the present invention is to improve the construction of fruitjarcovers and fasteners and to provide a simple, inexpensive, and efficient device adapted to be readily applied to an ordinary fruit-jar or analogous receptacle and capable of enabling the same to be quickly and effectively sealed.

A further object of the invention is to provide a fruit-jar cover and fastener adapted to enable a fruit-jar after sealing to be conveniently opened when it is desired to obtain access to its contents.

With these and other objects in view the invention consists in the construction and novel combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and pointed out in the claims hereto appended, it being understood that various changes in the form, proportion, size, and minor details of construction within the scope of the claims may be resorted to without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

' In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a portion of a fruit-jar provided with a cover and fastener constructed in accordance with this invention.' Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same. Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view illustrating the manner of unfastening the cover. Fig. 4 is a detail perspective view of the cover, illustrating the construction of the lower face thereof. Fig. 5 is a detail perspective view of the locking-lever.

Like numerals of reference designate corresponding parts in all the figures of the drawings.

1 designates a fruit-jar of the ordinary construction provided with a swinging bail 2, constructed of resilient material; but the cover and fastener, hereinafter described, is adapted to be applied to various other receptacles, as will be readily understood. The bail is substantially fl-shaped, its verticallydisposed sides are pivoted at their terminals to the jar, and its horizontally-disposed middle portion is arranged above the jar. The jar is provided with a cover 3, having a peripheral recess 4 to receive the upper edges of the jar, and the top wall of the recess 4 is provided with a depending circular rib 5, adapted to be embedded in an elastic packing or sealing ring 6. which is interposed between the jar and the cover in the usual manner. The cover may, however, be constructed in any other manner to secure an air-tight connection between it and the jar.

The cover is provided at its upper face with a circular enlargement or boss 7, having a central diametrically-arranged groove 8 in its upper face and adapted to be engaged by a locking-lever 9, consisting of a head 10 anda stem 11. The stem 11 is provided with a longitudinal opening 12 to receive the bail, and it is preferably constructed of a single piece of metal doubled at its center to form two sides and a connecting portion, the terminals of the metal being secured to the head 10; but the stem may be constructed in any other desired manner, as will be readily un derstood. The head is approximately semicircular in cross-section and presents an outer conveXly-curved engaging face 13, which conforms generally to the configuration of the groove 8 of the boss or enlargement 7 and which enables the locking-lever to be readily rocked or swung downward to either side of the jar from the upright position illustrated in Fig. 3 of the drawings to carry the lockinglever to the position illustrated in Fig. 1 for sealing the jar. The head 10, which is approximately semicylindrical, may have a smooth or flat inner face, and when it is locked it presents its opposite edges to the bail and the cover. This rocking movement is effected by swinging the locking-lever in a direction transversely of the groove 8, and when it is desired to unfasten the cover the locking-lever is swung upward to the vertical position. (Shown'in Fig. 3.) When the locking-lever is in a vertical position, as illustrated in full lines in Fig. 3, it is adapted to be readily moved longitudinally of the groove to disengage it from the cover, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3; The curved head of the locking-lever has a width greater than its depth, whereby when the lever is swung downward the cover will be tightly clamped on the jar.

The rubber sealing-ring is thereby compressed aid the rib 5 forced into the same, and the Jar is thereby made perfectly air-tight.

The boss or enlargement 7, which may be circular, square, or any other desired configuration, projects from the center of the upper face of the cover, and the latter is provided at its lower face with a similar boss or enlargement 14: These bosses or enlargements serve to space the covers, or rather the body portions thereof, from each other while theyare being burned in a kiln. The covers 'are arranged in stacks or piles, and it is only nec essary when burning the same to remove the glaze from the bosses or enlargements instead of the entire upper and lower faces of the covers to prevent the latter from sticking to one another.

It will be seen that the locking device or fastener is exceedingly simple and inexpensive in construction, that it is strong and durable, and that when in its locked position the handle or stem of the cover extends longitudinally of the bail and lies upon opposite sides of the top portion thereof, the bail being extended above the handle or stem of the lever and being adapted to form a guard for the same. Also the stem or handle of the lever is of a length to permit it to swing downward on the bailat either side thereof, and when in engagement with either of the vertical side portions of the bailit lies below the middle or top connecting portion of the bail at a point between the same and the cover. Furthermore, the head of the lever extends laterally and longitudinally beyond the stem or handle to provide a broad bearing-surface for engaging the cover. The configuration of thehead of the lever may be considerably changed, it being preferable that the lever present a substantially convex lower or outer face; Y but aflat lower face can be employed.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination with a receptacle having a bail, and a cover, of a locking-lever comprising a head for engagement with the cover, and a stem or handle having a longitudinal opening receiving the bail and disposed, when in its locked position, entirely below that portion of the bail, which is arranged above the cover.

2. The combination with a receptacle having a bail, and a cover, of a locking-lever arranged to engage the cover and the bail, said lever being provided with a stem or handle arranged longitudinally of the bail and between the same and the cover when the lever is in its locked position.

3. The combination with a receptacle having a bail, and a cover, of a locking-lever for engaging the bail and the cover, said lockinglever being provided with a stem or handle having a longitudinal opening receiving the bail and adapted to lie along the same when the lever is in its locked position, the bail being extended above the handle or stem of the lever to form a guard.-

4E. The combination with a receptacle having a bail composed of substantially vertical sides and a connecting top portion, and a cover, of a locking-lever comprising a head interposed between the top portion of the bail and the cover and adapted to be rocked on the latter, said lever being provided with a stem or handle engaging the vertical portion of the bail below its top connecting portion when the lever is in its locked position.

5. The combination with a receptacle having a bail, and a cover provided with a groove, of a locking-lever comprising a head interposed between the bail and the cover and arranged in the groove of the latter, and a stem or handle having two sides and a connecting portion and receiving the bail between its sides.

6. The combination with a receptacle having a cover, and an approximately fi-shaped bail having its vertically-disposed sides pivoted to the jar, and its horizontally-disposed middle portion arranged above the cover and separate from the same, of a locking-lever straddling the middle portion of the bail and adapted to be swung to either side so as to engage, when in its locked position, with either one of the vertically-disposed sides of the bail, said lever having a head adapted to bear against the bail and cover respectively, but having no connection with either.

7. The combination with a receptacle having a bail, and a cover provided with a projecting portion having a groove, of a lockinglever comprising an approximately semicylindrical head presenting a conveXly-curved face to the groove and adapted to be rocked therein to engage its opposite edges with the cover and the bail, and a handle or stem adapted to lie along the bail when the lever is in its locked position.

8. In a device of the class described, the combination of a receptacle provided with a bail composed of substantially vertical sides and a connecting top portion, a cover pro-,

vided on its upper face with a projecting boss or enlargement, and a locking-lever engaging the boss or enlargement and the bail, and pro vided with a stem or handle adapted to engage either of the vertical portions of the bail.

9. In a deviceof the class described, the combination of a receptacle provided with a bail composed of vertical side portions and a top connecting portion, a cover provided at its upper face with a central boss or enlargement having a groove, and a locking-lever provided with a head arranged in the said groove and interposed between the cover and my own I have hereto afiixed my signature in the tolp portion of the bail, Olslaid lever being the presence of two witnesses. provi ed with a stem or an e engaging one 1 of the vertical portions of the bail below the JOSEPH YOUNG top portion thereof when the lever is in its Witnesses: locked position. T. H. HOPKINS,

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as M. I. EVERIST. 

